About

I.C.D.A. of B.C. is a registered non-profit society. The Society was incorporated on October 24, 1980 under the name British Columbia Association of Infant Development Consultants. In 2007 this Association expanded to include all Aboriginal IDP Consultants, Supported Child Development Consultants and Aboriginal Supported Child Development Consultants. A name change was then needed to better fit the membership as a whole. Meetings are held semi-annually in conjunction with Provincial Inservice education.

What Is Our Purpose?

  • To promote ethical and professional standards among our membership.
  • To promote public awareness of early intervention and of the Infant Development and Supported Child Development Programs in BC.
  • To promote the exchange of information between professionals working in the field of early intervention.

History of the Association (28 July 2017)

The Society was incorporated on October 24, 1980 under the name British Columbia Association of Infant Development Consultants. The association advocated for and adopted the title, “Infant Development Consultant” rather than “infant worker” to more truly reflect the work being done.

 

  • 1981-86 – BCAIDC developed and established the professional standards, code of ethics, and defined the goals of the association. The Association advocated for more adequate staffing, staff training, and for all sponsoring societies to adhere to the philosophy of the IDP.
  • 1984 – BCAIDC collected information through a detailed questionnaire from all IDP programs to enable Mr. Hugh Chamberlain, an outside consultant, to compile and provide job classification and salary classification for IDC’s.
  • 1986 – The funder of IDP, Ministry of Human Resources, was still using the name infant worker in contracts. BCAIDC advocated to finally have this changed to reflect the name the Infant Development Program had been using for 6 years.
  • 1987 – BCAIDC saw the programs begin to implement the standards into each program, began to broaden the exposure of BCAIDC within the province, and worked to strengthen the bonds among the membership. Goals included standardized implementation of provincial guidelines across all programs regardless of agency affiliation. BCAIDC also made contact with other Infant Programs across Canada and continued to develop national networking. Newsletters were developed to keep members across BC informed of what BCAICD and programs around the province were doing.
  • 1988 – BCAIDC began advocating for the creation of Regional Advisor positions to assist in each region and alleviate the growing responsibilities of the Provincial Advisor.
  • 1989 – BCAIDC sponsored the production of a videotape regarding physiotherapy methods for infants with Down Syndrome. Also advocated for the purchase of Gesell training tapes so that each regional advisor would have a copy for their region.
  • 1991 – BCAIDC hired Price Waterhouse to conduct a pay rate and workload study of consultants across BC. They compiled the information and put it into a report comparing IDP pay rates with nurses and teachers in BC. This was in an effort to advocate for a more standard rate of pay for consultants, regardless of where they work.
  • 1996 – BCAIDC produced a document in conjunction with the Provincial Steering Committee to advocate for the reduction of waitlists and high caseloads.
  • 2007 – This Association expanded to include all Aboriginal IDP Consultants, Supported Child Development Consultants and Aboriginal Supported Child Development Consultants. The name of the Association was changed to the Infant and Child Development Association of BC to better fit the membership as a whole. Discussions started about a logo change for the same reason.
  • 2009 – Funding cuts eliminated the Provincial Offices, along with the regional advisor positions. Advocacy efforts were unsuccessful at reinstating the Provincial Offices. Concerns raised about many issues, including: Overall coordination of the programs to foster integration across the province and promotion of uniformity of services to families province wide; Practice guidelines incorporating new material to keep practices up to date and evolving appropriately to continue to meet best practice standards across the province; Educational opportunities for consultants, including training and networking opportunities to share knowledge from the field; collection and analysis of uniform data to inform most effective and efficient allocation of resources across the province; Proactive evaluation of programs across the province, to ensure standards are met and appropriate services are provided to all families, regardless of location; advocacy for services and programs to meet as yet unaddressed needs of young children and their families in the province.
  • 2010 – The Association took on the role of managing the IDP website www.idpofbc.ca with a 3 year commitment for financial support from the Northern MCFD region, thanks to the committed advocacy of members in that region. The original designer of the IDP “running babies” logo was contracted to develop a new association logo. MCFD created new regional advisor contracts in each region in an effort to provide some support to consultants in the absence of Provincial Offices.
  • 2011 – The Association was able to hire Amelia Matheson to continue coordinating the idpofbc website and maintaining the provincial IDP contact list. The Association provided some funding for the first Lighting the Way conference in Prince George in partnership with the Northern Attachment Network. The conference was such a huge success that the Association made a profit. Gesell training was provided at the conference for the last time. Work started on the process of building a website for the Association to replace the idpofbc website when the funding expired. Constitution changed to allow AGM to be held electronically or by teleconference and to allow regional representatives to be appointed at any time during the year if a position becomes vacant.
  • 2012 – Website committee active in designing and overseeing the building of a new website for the Association on a Word Press platform.
  • 2013 – New “children with blocks” logo chosen and adopted.
  • 2015 – New association website www.icdabc.ca launched, with the option to register and renew memberships through PayPal online.
  • 2016 – New option for group membership added.
  • 2017 – Original web manager no longer able to maintain the website. Search for a new web manager resulted in a contract with the V3 Media Group. Website in the process of being updated and glitches addressed. Executive meetings continue to be held monthly via teleconference. Annual General Meetings are held yearly, accessible via teleconference. Over the years the Association has worked towards the long term goal of certification. The development of the IDP/SCD certificate and diploma at UBC was an effort towards this goal. With the website issues now being addressed, the executive will be resuming attention on the advocacy and standards goals that have been put aside while the website/communications goal was a priority.